Dude, "It's Going To Be A Bloodbath": Newly Private Dell To Fire 15,000

Curious why Michael Dell was so eager to take the company he founded private? So he could do stuff like this without attracting too much attention. According to the Channel Register, the recently LBOed company is "starting the expected huge layoff program this week, claiming numbers will be north of 15,000." Of course, with a private sponsor in charge of the recently public company, the only thing that matters now is maximizing cash flows in an environment of falling PC sales, a commoditisation of the server market and a perceived need to better serve enterprises with their ever-increasing mobile and cloud-focused IT requirements - things that do not bode well for Dell's EBITDA - and the result is perhaps the largest axing round in the company's history. But at least the shareholders cashed out while they could.

More on the upcoming layoffs:

We heard from people close to the Round Rock Dell HQ area that Dell management has every conference room booked, and every HR person and security staff member is at work. There are cuts in all departments, according to one of our sources, who says some of these have already been downsized and are now being told to cut 15 per cent more heads.

We hear the worldwide layoff number is now greater than 15,000 people.

Our insider commented: "It’s going to be a bloodbath.”

So what can those on the receiving end of said bloodbath expect? Not much. "The severance package is two months' pay plus an extra week of pay for each year of service, a bonus at 75 per cent, obligated COBRA health insurance for 18 months in the United States, and outplacement services (in the US at least)."

The internal justification for th move:

... Dell has started its Stateside layoffs this week. Internal company emails seen by The Reg mention “simplifying client support structure - both basic and up sell,” “client support structure combined - Consumer and Commercial come under one umbrella,” and “Up sell offers will align with Pro Support and will "evolve”. The “evolve” word could mean that further changes are coming.

Also known as trying to remain cash flow positive in a world that has long since moved on and left Dell in the dust....

We wish the company's billionaire founder well as he progresses with the bloodbathing, just as we wish the BLS the best of luck in the coming weeks as they use every seasonal adjustment gimmick known under the sun to make the 15,000 mass termination disappear. Wait, we know: it's all the weather's fault. And demographcs.

Dell is great and I am a loyal customer. It's sad to see them raped by the private equity brigade. I just bought a rack server, and I hope it's as good as the last one, which is still humming without ever a whimper after 8 years.

Yeah, as predicted last year the AHA rollover is going to start to impact the last remaining US corps. in 1Q14. The rollover in payroll numbers will be the pin that pops the bubble, and forces Yellen to get really creative.

Wang Laboratories, Inc. is a worldwide provider of computer-based office information processing systems including data, text, image and voice processing systems, as well as networking products. Wang's business activities also include consulting, support, and training services in addition to customer services which help businesses reengineer offices to improve productivity and quality. In 1992, despite $1.9 billion in sales, Wang posted a net loss of $139 million and began operating under the protection of Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

lost my shorts, Private Equity in the form of Black Rock came to my town and bought the local short haul mining railroad and ship loading facility. They had it for a number of years and nearly destroyed it. No money in, all the money out. It was classic milking! No maintenance and no repairs unless needed to keep running, no modernization. Just milk the profits, nothing turned back into the company. Luckly Canadian National came along bought it out and now run a proper profitable rail road. The private equity suits may know finance, but as to running a rail road? Stupid Cunts! And I mean cunts.

You ever wonder what really happened or caused the tragic rail accident at the Quebec town last year? Was that company mismanaged or underfunded or what? CN and BNSF are one of the better rail cos. out there. Here's a good argument to have transportation related businesses in a pub co.

It was privately held. Due to the fact their insurance only covered 25 million -they were forced into bankruptcy. A "Black Rock" like equity fund just bought it for pennies on the dollar. I wish them luck. Since the demise of the paper industry in Maine, the only real consistent product to haul was oil. It was being moved from the Tar Sands fields to Irvings giant refinery in St. John NB. After this past summer's horific conflagration one can assume the Irvings will get their oil via some other method.

Thirty years later, their careers destroyed, their jobs gone, the last band of American IT workers submitted to the H1B visa workers at Round Rock, Texas. The great Personal Computing culture of the turn of the millenium was gone and the last American workers of any kind were soon to pass into history.

Same here. Life destroyed by outsourcing in 2002, new career since then, no job security in sight but latest gig has lasted awhile ... till the next wave of economic destruction by the globalists is rained down on the people to be 'competitive' (code word for 'fuck over as many american workers as possible and pretend its a cyclical phenomenom') .

Meaning talk to a dude in the Philippines about your Dell server. This crap is nothing more than outsourcing and less service.

Dell fucked up an order I put in and the Dell's Philippines support could not or would not give me the support line in Austin, Texas. The company actually hides the contact information of their managers and board.

I used to buy TONS of PCs and Eq. from them using their Website. Sometimes UPS had to put on another truck for deliveries to my home. No problems.

Got a call in 2007 from a sales person who would just love to be my rep. Funny thing was that the prices with the rep. were higher than on the Website. I did make one order for a SMB router that was somehow cheaper with the rep. They fucked up the order and it took MANY calls to them to get some nice girl in TN to fix it. Ridiculous! The whole time my rep. was unreachable. Then a week or so later they call to "check in" and got an earful.

I then started building the PCs and servers myself and ordering the rare router or other from them. Talk about them cutting their own throat.

Clients had problems too, but that's a topic for another day of Dell layoffs.

Bought systems from them way back when they were PC's Limited - one of the first smallish companies to go into PC's in a big way. But Dell's quality was a roller coaster over the years. They were knowingly shipping systems with ad hard drives for a while - a guaranteed way to piss off your customer base.

Dell is a shit hole to work at just like their founder. I know many of a poor sap who had to deal with the crap. Why can't we get rid of the managers who caused this mess? Oh wait, this is 'merica where average folk take it up the ass.

If you seriously think this is an "it's the red|blue team's fault" problem, *you* are part of the problem. That's a manufactured illusion, and the real bastards love it when you choose to accept their version of reality. Wake up.

So you know better than the current managers of Dell on how to run a profitable server, desktop and laptop business? Great! Just start one yourself! Since Dell is such a bad place to work at, may be you can feel happy for the 15,000 soon to be liberated from there. Perhaps the Dell managers should continue to do their job the way they are doing currently and liberate everyone from Dell.

Its guaranteed this weasel company will give out some package deals so the unemployed will not be counted as unemployed. I've known several people that worked at Dellcatraz and its just one step short of the rock. All that is missing from the building design was bob-wire fences and a couple guard towers.

Actually, they will pink slip 15k full time workers and then create 30k new part time jobs with no benefits. Net employment for BLS will rise and Obama will use it as further proof the economy is in full recovery.

I had a friend of a friend do the "you don't what your talking about" thing to me recently.

His basis was that "they are going to build a hotel on that closed car-lot over there." I laughed and then spelled out how the property owner was connected to the mayor and city council and how the town gets state and federal "incentive" funds to have this built. Additionally, that the whole thing is being financed by debt in a newly create corporation that they can later walk away from. I also pointed out that it is being build over three miles from the interstate and that there are several motels off of the interstate a half-mile down-No one is going to use it.

It is basically a public project with all the corruption and cronyism to boot but disguised as a private project. In other word, another get rich boondoggle for the connected and a shit sandwich for the rest.

He just gave me that blinking thing that the sheeple get when you hit them between the eyes with truth that they don't want to handle.

Under warranty they pay sub-contracted techs $25 to drive their own vehicle up to 50 miles to: pick up the parts at FedEx, drive to the customers home, disassemble the entire laptop to replace the motherboard, re-assemble, run diagnostics, confirm operation, and call in to Dell using your own cellphone.

Takes 2-3 hours so by the time you are done you got $8/hour not counting the gas and wear and tear on your vehicle.

I had one of these HP subcontractors go to one of my clients to replace a failed hard drive that was under warranty. After the guy left the client angrily called me to complain that the pc still did not work. I drove out to the client and took the pc cover off only to find that the HP tech put the new hard drive in the caddy and left. He did not bother to connect the power or data cable.

We have one or two of them out to our site each week. They invariably come in two types: 50+ year old guys with technical backgrounds who can't find better, or <30 year old african immigrants. I can't imagine how either group pays the bills based on what they tell me, especially the older guys. It's a small miracle and testament to character that some of these guys still try to do a good job.

my wife has severe disabilities that prevent her from working. she worked for 35 years but has not worked for the last 2. she has immaculate records from some of the most respected specialist in the southeast and she was turned down for disability, she appealed and hasn't heard anything for 6 months.

meanwhile, every other person that comes into my office is "disabled". some of them look like they could lift tractors for a living.

its a bullshit scam just like everything else in this godforsaken shithole we call a country.

Sometimes it's the result of emo-stress of being ground down by a shitty suck-up IT Supervisor who knows nothing, and therefore does not push back on the demands of other suck-up supervisors in other departments. Just sayin'

just think.... if you're on disability. you get a one way ticket and a front row seat to band camp because you're of no use to the state. and the death row inmates... it's going to be a gas. i know i can't afford anymore taxes

Took my brother 7 years to get his claim approved. My only wish is if disability IS hiring they would hire investigators to snuff out the BS fraud. But what are the probabilities THAT'S every going to happen?

I left corporate in 2012. They want me off any legacy bene's. Twice I've received letters for the corp from an outfit called Allsup. The letter is worded as tho if you don't reply your bene's get whacked. Of course that's not happened yet. It will tho. They're a hired gun for corp to enlarge the FSA & help them with their accounting fraud.

Just a thought, but maybe they can help your wife as it's obvious they know the system better than an ambulance chaser. I have no idea what their "cut" would be, but you can bet it ain't free.

looks like a good harbinger for gun sales.......................of course a "fired" person would have to wait until their first unemployment check arrives to purchase their brand new, oiled, 30 round clip AK or Bushmaster. have a nice day.

They're just laid off, they need to conserve what liquidity they do have and be frugal, they should be looking for a Mosin-Nagant, still some well broke-in Soviet models to be had for under $200, and spam cans of ammo can be had.

Jerry's has 03-A3 stripped receiver and bolt for about $115 right now. Very strong action. Yes, bolt action, but if you know a good smith, you can have one made up for arount $600 or so. I buy a few a year and turn them into heavy brush/ forrest rifles usually in 35 whelen.

This reminds me of a relative of mine by marriage. She has just retired, but worked a life time for major telephone companies, at her age, she naturally went through the massive layoffs and consolidations in traditional phone service. She was a major HR person, for the last 20 some years, she has been in several of America's biggest phone companies as THE person tasked with taking people into her office and handing them their notice. She has fired so many thousands of people face to face that she has no idea the total numbers. When you think about it, corporate America needs women like her, willing to do the dirty work face to face. I believe her corporate loyalty, and good job of getting angry people out the door in minutes, made her a must have and keep employee. In all her time, she never heard any talk of her job being axed, right to the day she retired, she continued to fire people.

With the changes in computing, and they are BIG, Dell is fast becoming another traditional phone company like business that the world is passing by. They had a great run, but unless the business model changes, then they will sink. I for one, have had several Dells, but when this one goes, I will move into the cloud and hand held devices. The desk top will not be replaced, me and many others! For my small business I should go to the cloud right now, as the desk top connection limits my ability to respond instantly to customer requests. So my Dell is probably gone before summer tourist season hits.